Recent Veblen scholarship: A foreword

Abstract

Thorstein Veblen: Critical Assessment* is a three volume anthology on the American institutional economist and radical sociologist, edited by Aus? tralian economist John Cunningham Wood, who has recently been ap? pointed Hughes Professor of Business at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Western Australia; prior to this he was on the faculty at the University of Western Australia and with the Western Australia Department of State Development. Clearly, Wood has done much editing of this kind before and brings considerable experience to his task. Although Wood will probably be unknown to most Veblen scholars as such, he has edited, first as co-editor with Ronald N. Woods and then solely, all the "Critical As? sessments of Leading Economists" series published by Routledge. This series now includes or will soon include anthologies on Alfred Marshall, J. M. Keynes, T. R. Malthus, J. S. Mill, Karl Marx, W. S. Jevons, David Ricardo, Joseph Schumpeter, Leon Walras and Adam Smith. The set will be too expensive for most scholars to purchase, but it is a valuable research aid since it contains most of the important articles published in English on Veblen. Wood's brief introduction and analysis of a few key articles on Veblen are of modest value; yet to his credit he has selected 137 mostly important pieces on Veblen. They fall into three categories; Veblen's life and perspectives on his thought, his political economy, and specialized topics; the articles in each category are reprinted in chronological order in a separate volume. Veblen scholars will, no doubt, quibble with some of his sins of omission and commission. It is arguable, of course, that the anthology could be improved by also including selections